APROPOS Usman Mirza`s article `Hydrodiplomacy` (July 5). I agree with the author`s views.

Pakistan is facing a shortfall of around 40MAF (million acre-feet) today which may rise to 100MAF by 2025. Our excuse is to blame the shortage on hydro-diplomacy or India or the mistrust between the provinces on Kalabagh and similar issues. Let us examine whether this is so.

Indian projects like Kishanganga and Baghliar have affected us but we need to take into account what have we done with our resources.

Pakistan has a catchment area of 553,416 sq km. The irrigation network was developed by the British in the 1930s, while we have done nothing noticeable since the commissioning of Tarbela in the early 1970s. The current system has the capacity of producing up to 147MAF in a regular season, of which, 8.5 MAF is lost to evaporation and seepage, whereas 32MAF is lost to the sea through the Indus delta.

What have we done to utilise this 32MAF?Sindh demands that more water be let out to the sea to curb sea intrusion. Hence, their opposition to Kalabagh dam. This is a myth because the salinity present in the lower plains of Sindh is due to the growing of rice for more than 40 years.

Of ficial records state the annual recharge of our groundwater system is around 55MAF and we are extracting about 48MAF. However, we all know this is a guesstimate as there is no regulation on the consumption of groundwater and one can install a tubewell at will.

The drop in water table in the provincial and the federal capitals has been 20 to 50 feet during the last 20 years. What have we done to curb this menace (while the world is moving toward artificial groundwater recharge)? A Pakistani Colorado, USA